Archives for Newsletters

11.2021

MoFi MasterTracker MM Cartridge $800 One of the best phono cartridges on the market doesn’t get much attention. That would be MoFi’s MasterTracker. MasterTracker sounds smooth instead of biting. Yet it has outstanding definition and plenty of output to run into your MM phono preamp. If you love the piano without sibilance, please consider the MasterTracker cartridge. The name MasterTracker is derived from MoFi’s combination of choices to achieve superb groove tracing. MasterTracker mirrors the design of MoFi’s record cutting head in its studio in California. It uses a V-Twin dual magnet generator. That is, it uses TWO powerful magnets
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Categories: Newsletters.

10.2021

NAD M33 Integrated Amp $5000 (200×2) NAD’s M33 is perhaps THE BEST BUY in a high end integrated amp for a pile of reasons. $5k is a steal for this magnificent integrated amp/streamer. That’s right, it has an on board MQA streamer! NAD’s M33 is among the first products in the world to use the innovative Eigentakt amplifier circuit design. In short, M33 is impedance invariant and will drive ANY speaker you like. Due to Eigentakt, M33 sounds the same from watt one to clipping. Almost every speaker on the market will sound better with more power than less power.
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Categories: Newsletters.

09.2021

Mo-Fi Studio Deck + $1400 Mo-Fi’s Studio Deck+ is a built in Ann Arbor, TANK of a turntable. Turntables, like all audio components, make a difference in the sound of your system. The sound of StudioDeck+ is distinctly warmer and less bright, or brittle, than the popular brands we’ve all heard of. The background is quieter and there’s less rumble. StudioDeck+ starts as heavy mechanism with HRS absorbing/leveling feet. It uses two plates of steel on the top deck. The tonearm is a precision built 9” arm with high quality wire. The cables are plug in on the rear, in
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Categories: Newsletters.

08.2021

Amphion Argon 3LS Tower Speakers: $3500 (White or Black, $4300 Walnut) (38 1/8h, 7 5/8w, 12d, 8 ohms, 50 lbs, 85 dB SPL) Suppose you would like a beautiful sounding diminutive tower. That… would be the Amphion Argon 3LS. It is made in Finland in Amphion’s factory. It isn’t a generic badged effort from Asia. If you’re after a very serious loudspeaker in a small tower form factor, do not pass up Argon 3LS! At about 38” tall and 7 ½ wide, this Amphion doesn’t have a big footprint. Yet it casts a massive soundstage, with impressive width and depth.
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Categories: Newsletters.

07.2021

KLH Model 5 $2000 Per Pair: Price Includes Risers Walnut or Mahogany Finishes (34.25h on riser, 13.73w, 13d, 52 lbs, 6 ohms, 90.5 dB) A new KLH-5 has just been introduced to the market. What is different about KLH-5 vs a zillion other speakers? First of all, it uses a SEALED cabinet- there’s no port. This helps tighten the bass. It doesn’t have the FAT sound most speakers have. If you prefer bass definition to thud, consider Model 5. A sealed speaker has “air spring” within the cabinet. The drivers have to be solid to behave properly under this pressure
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Categories: Newsletters.

06.2021

Bryston Middle T: $6870 Per Pair (39.4h, 10.4w, 16.3d, 81 lbs, 88 dB SPL, 20 Year Warranty!) Who would be a candidate to buy the Bryston Middle T speakers? How about… someone who wants large and powerful sound without adding subs? How about … someone who wants reference level size and scale but doesn’t have room for a monster tower? There are middle linebackers, and then there are Nitschke and Butkus who broke the mold. Middle T falls into that category! Middle T is a great sounding speaker regardless of size. The bullet point not to miss here is that
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Categories: Newsletters.

05.2021

Bryston BR-20 Preamp/DAC $6000 Bryston announced in the spring of 2020 that it would be coming out with a new, state of the art Preamp/DAC. Well… that was when C19 was ramping up and, to make a long story short, it has taken over a year, instead of a couple months, to deliver on the promise. But it’s been worth the wait! BR-20 is a stunningly immediate and transparent sounding preamp- that just happens to have a state of the art DAC on board too! The Bryston BDA-3 DAC sells alone for $3800. It has been revered throughout the audio
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Categories: Newsletters.

03.2021

Falcon Ram 20 $2700 Per Pair (17h, 9w, 10.47d) Falcon Acoustics of England makes speakers that pretty well hit the stereotype of what we expect from English speakers. There’s nothin’ wrong with that! In England, people generally don’t have large rooms. I have visited vendors there and it’s amazing how over a thousand people can live in an apartment building the size of the Titanic. We Americans are spoiled by the space and privacy we have. The Brits want speakers with rich sound from a small profile. They need to sound full without playing loud. Falcon, founded in 1972, hits
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Categories: Newsletters.